Auteurs dramatiques c. 19th century

This lithograph, Auteurs dramatiques, was made by Honoré Daumier sometime in the 19th century. Lithography is a printmaking process that relies on the antipathy between grease and water. Here, Daumier drew directly on a lithographic stone with a greasy crayon. The stone was then treated with chemicals, allowing ink to adhere only to the drawn areas. This print was then made by pressing paper against the inked stone. You can see the effects of the artist’s hand in the varying line weights. Look how he uses hatching, and parallel lines, to create a range of light and dark tones. The finished product would have been relatively quick and cheap to produce, which is why it was so popular for satirical prints like this one. With it, Daumier critiques the image-making, production, and consumption of culture itself in the age of mechanical reproduction. The very process used to create this image embodies the social critique that Daumier is so well known for. So, next time you see a print, think about the process that brought it into being.